


Hope and the Future

by MademoiselleSarcasme



Series: After the War [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other, Post-Canon Fix-It, alternately: alt-canon fix-it, but to be clear -- kataang will ALSO break up, celibate!aang, either way i'm fixing it, i can't promise this is going to be a happy story, in fact it's fixing to be bittersweet at best, it is the author's solemn opinion that mai would be unfit for the role of fire lady, now with more spirit magic, this story begins with maiko and ends with them breaking up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MademoiselleSarcasme/pseuds/MademoiselleSarcasme
Summary: Immediately following the series finale, we see the way the story could have gone. (Brace for breakups.)This fic is part of a series which tells a long story. If you will not like:- Zuko thinking Mai would make a terrible Fire Lady- Katara trying to figure out if she is more a help or a hindrance to Aang in a romantic relationship- Toph having one-sided feelings for Sokka that are gently not reciprocated- Sokka and Suki getting engaged- the vague concept of a Zutara endgame but that won't happen in this particular fic. . . then go away. You won't like this fic.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: After the War [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005882
Comments: 16
Kudos: 15





	1. Zuko

Zuko had been Fire Lord for all of two weeks, and he was exhausted. Between rooting out internal dissent and putting out fires both literal and metaphorical outside the palace complex, he was running low on energy, free time, and spare sanity. And to his even greater chagrin, Mai wasn't helping a bit. In fact, her presence was an additional stressor in his life, and he was going to have to address it. Soon.

In the wake and aftermath of Sozin's Comet, he'd found himself ferried back and forth between the Fire Lord's palace and Ba Sing Se with a frequency and speed that, a mere year ago, would have made his head spin. Now, he took the flight time as an opportunity to read and answer important diplomatic letters and missives, and even occasionally catch up on his personal correspondence. A letter from the Avatar, postmarked a few days ago, turned out to be little more than a postcard saying "Wish you were here!" disguised as an important scroll. He smiled at the thoughtfulness and was sincerely grateful it didn't need a response. Aang could be thoughtful sometimes, when he tried.

The latest in tedious meeting marathons was being held once again in the Earth King's palace in Ba Sing Se. Zuko was getting sick of the inside of his airship, and even more sick of interminable meetings wherein he had to make concessions and apologies for the century of atrocities wrought by his paternal line. At least in Ba Sing Se, though, he could sneak out to the Jasmine Dragon and see a friendly face.

After a full day of reparations meetings where he made more promises than he wanted to, but still not as many as the Earth King would have liked, Zuko finally made it outside the palatial complex. His feet did most of the navigation by muscle memory as he rehearsed the request for advice from his uncle.

The sun had long set and the streets of the Upper Ring were lit by evenly spaced torches, maintained by a small army of rarely-seen lamplighters. A less occupied Fire Lord may have noted such an interesting piece of infrastructure, but that was the farthest thing from Zuko's mind as he opened the door to the Jasmine Dragon. A small chain of bells on the door announced his arrival.

Only a few stragglers were left inside the tea shop, and the most comforting voice in the world called from the kitchen, "We're closing in five minutes, I'm afraid; no more tea to serve!"

"Not even for the Fire Lord?" responded Zuko, ignoring the disbelieving stares from the few customers left.

"Nephew!" Iroh emerged from the kitchen, taking off his apron as he walked. "I didn't know you were in Ba Sing Se again so soon!"

"More meetings." Zuko pulled a face.

"And I didn't get a dozen messenger hawks asking my advice?" Iroh's eyebrows rose in mock disbelief. 

"I've been Fire Lord for two weeks now, Uncle. I have some of the answers now. 'Yes. No. I will take that under advisement.'" Zuko's 'diplomat voice' slipped out as he quoted himself, and Iroh chuckled.

"There may not always be tea for the Fire Lord, but there is always tea for my beloved nephew. Come, have a seat." Iroh bustled back into the kitchen, then re-emerged to announce to the rest of the shop: "The rest of you have three minutes before we close. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!" Chuckling at his own joke, he disappeared again. The remaining patrons slowly drank their dregs, tossed a few coins onto the tables, and trickled out. One or two made sure to loudly thank the best tea maker in the city for his hospitality before they departed, the bells jingling their exit. 

Out of habit and courtesy, Zuko gathered the emptied cups and brought them to the sink for washing. He was just about to roll up his sleeves and get scrubbing when Iroh tapped him on the shoulder. "Your tea is ready; why not come sit and enjoy it with me?"

They settled themselves at a table and Iroh carefully poured two cups. "So, are you here just to visit your old uncle? Or is there any advice I can offer to the great Fire Lord?"

"I _am_ looking for advice, Uncle," Zuko admitted, cupping his hands around his tea and staring down into it, "but not on Fire Lord stuff. I . . . I think I need to break up with Mai."

Iroh's eyebrows rose as he sipped contemplatively. "Mmmm. What makes you think that?"

"Well, she's not actually helpful as a girlfriend. I know I'm not being a very good boyfriend, since I'm in endless meetings as the Fire Lord and all, but she hasn't asked if she can help with . . . anything."

"Have you asked her to help you?" asked Iroh, fixing his nephew with a stare. 

"No, but I don't feel like I can. I feel like she's already got little enough of my time as it is and I can't ask her to give it up." Zuko sipped at his own tea, appreciating the warmth. 

"You should talk to her before you jump to conclusions, Zuko," warned Iroh. "Clear and open communication of expectations is the first step to a happy marriage."

Zuko choked a little on his tea. "Marriage? I never said I was going to marry her!"

"It seems like that's what she had in mind, since she warned you against breaking up with her again. That is practically a marriage proposal." Iroh poured himself a second cup of tea from the pot and stared at Zuko through the scented steam coming off its surface. Zuko shook his head. 

"I can't marry Mai. She'd make an awful Fire Lady. She doesn't care about diplomacy at all and I'm not even sure she's actually glad the war is over." He stared once again into his cup as if seeking hidden knowledge in its depths. 

"Then you must ask yourself what the right course of action is at this time," his uncle responded, "bearing in mind that the Fire Lord's marriage is often a politically arranged one."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose, still not willing to actually look at his uncle. "I can't think about marriage at all right now," he grumbled. "I'm seventeen and trying to undo a century of destruction. It's too much!"

Ever the calm presence, Iroh responded, "It is indeed too much for one person. You have your friends and your advisors for now, but do consider the crucial role a wife might play in your life."

"So you're saying I should marry Mai? I just told you she'd be a terrible Fire Lady!"

"There is more to the world than what is immediately in front of you, my nephew," said Iroh, smiling gently. "She may not be the future Fire Lady, but the future Fire Lady _is_ out there, somewhere. She will be smart, and beloved, and an asset to the Fire Nation. And she may not even be Fire Nation herself; in fact, were you to marry outside the Fire Nation, it may be an excellent way of continuing to bring peace and love to this new world."

As Iroh was speaking, a familiar face sprang unbidden into Zuko's mind, and he felt his cheeks flush a bit. He slurped his tea loudly to cover his discomfort, and Iroh raised one eyebrow. "Oh? You have a candidate in mind?"

"No. Not really." Zuko lied uneasily, feeling as if every untruth was a betrayal. He changed the subject back to why he was, in fact, sitting in the Jasmine Dragon -- this time, he was more decisive. “So, Uncle. I need to break up with Mai, and I need your advice.” He refused to let his face show where his thoughts had gone just moments before.


	2. Katara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> En route to Kyoshi Island, Katara starts thinking about things Aang has said to her in the past couple weeks.

Katara reclined in Appa's saddle, pensively mending one of her winter parkas. Moths had gotten to the warm lining and she had been avoiding the slow and frustrating process of darning it, but it helped to have something to focus on while in flight -- especially because her thoughts were circling and swirling about each other, unpacking the events of two weeks ago in light of some more recent information. 

Aang had started to open up to her more these last three weeks together, and Katara was seeing more into his mind than she'd ever really seen before. He was full of feelings: anxiety, love, fear. Regret.

"Ow," she hissed quietly. The large darning needle had jabbed her in the thumb when she had tried to grasp it to pull it through the fabric. She stuck the injured digit in her mouth out of habit, sucking on it idly. Aang chose that moment to look back at her to see how she was doing. 

"Are you okay?" he called, concerned. 

"'M fime," she called back around the aggrieved finger. "Zhush shtabbed m'sef wif a meedle." Aang pulled a face in sympathy and returned to the task of flying. Katara returned to the gnarly task of sorting out the information in her head.

Not long after the coronation of the new Fire Lord, she had allowed her still-unclear feelings for Aang to take on a romantic flavour. It had been fun -- thrilling, even -- for about five days. Then, the confessions started.

He had been sitting at the edge of a picturesque cliff, his feet dangling off the edge, when he said, "Katara? I have to tell you something."

"What is it, Aang?" she'd asked, coming to sit next to him. The proximity to the edge made her nervous, but she knew he wouldn't let her fall.

"Back when we all split up in Ba Sing Se and I went to go see that guru?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't actually learn how to control the Avatar state there." She was staring intently at his face, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I was supposed to let all earthly things go, including you, and I just couldn't do it."

"So how'd you control it later?" Katara was genuinely curious, and kept a close eye on Aang's relationship to the Avatar state. It hadn't been wholly good for him in the past.

"I kind of . . . sort of let go of you and just hoped I'd get to come back and enjoy earthly life after." Aang was struggling to explain himself. "Like, I let go, but I also sort of didn't. If that makes sense."

“I think so,” Katara replied, trying to wrap her mind around the concepts. “And I guess it’s a good thing that you have some sense of your humanity still, since your duty is to the world,” she added, mostly trying to make herself feel better. The implications of Aang’s confession were already starting to spiral out of control and she wanted to keep them on a very short leash until she could unravel them slowly and with as much information as possible.

“Yeah,” Aang agreed. “Cosmic energy is a whole lot to handle.”

"Yeah," Katara had echoed, staring with unseeing eyes at the landscape below them.

Present-day Katara blinked at the project on her lap. Her thumb was still in her mouth, but it didn't taste like it was bleeding any more. On her lap was a winter parka with a half-darned mothhole and a bloodthirsty darning needle in the edges of that hole. She sighed; it was summertime, so she didn't strictly _need_ to have it fixed immediately. Carefully, she folded up the parka and tucked it into the bottom of one of her clothing packs, then made her way to Appa's head to sit next to Aang.

"We're almost there," he said cheerily. "Kyoshi Island is just past those foothills."

"Great," Katara answered, smiling. "It'll be nice to set down with friends for a few days."


	3. Aang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoying some respite on Kyoshi Island, Aang answers some of Katara's tricky questions.

Aang had decided that he was taking a well-deserved break from Avatar business. After an incredibly busy fortnight of diplomatic summits, trade agreements, and the occasional animal rescue, they had finally landed on Kyoshi Island, and Aang was looking forward to spending substantial time with friendly faces. 

Their arrival day passed quickly, packed with reunions and gatherings with nearly all the inhabitants of the Island. Katara spent the first few hours keeping her eyes peeled for Sokka or Suki, but one of the better-informed women in the marketplace let her know that they had sent word ahead about a storm delay and wouldn’t arrive until at least the next day. At the end of their very long day, Katara and Aang were winding down on the balcony, staring out at the peninsula across the strait. Aang put his arm around Katara, and she leaned into him; they stood in contented silence for some time. His mind drifted from one topic to the next: the history of the island, its sentimental value to them as a team, the people he looked forward to seeing every time they came to visit.

"Aang," Katara said at last, breaking his reverie.

"Mm?" he looked up at her, enjoying the glow of the fading sunlight on her face.

"You never did really tell me much about how energybending works," she said, clearly trying to piece something together. "What exactly did the lionturtle show you?"

Aang blinked. This wasn’t exactly the topic he had expected, but he was willing to talk about it.

"I'm not . . . exactly sure," he answered slowly, turning his gaze back to the foothills beyond the strait. "He said that before the Avatar, the animals bent the energy inside themselves. And then there was sort of a big flash and I understood what he meant. Kind of like how the firebending masters were." He looked back at Katara to check if she comprehended.

Katara nodded along thoughtfully. "What kept you from being overpowered by Ozai?" she asked. Aang started, dropping his arm and turning to face her squarely.

"What?"

"Sokka told me about the lights," she explained, leaning deeper into the balcony railing. "That it looked like you weren't going to make it, but then you did. And you yourself mentioned something about needing an unbendable spirit. How did Ozai not overpower you?"

Aang found that he suddenly couldn't look at Katara directly, so he turned back to the lovely view and leaned into the railing beside her.

"I . . . I don't really know," he admitted at last. "I was so focused on not killing him that I didn't have a lot of other thoughts. I knew he would always be a threat to the world if I didn't defeat him, and I held those things in my mind as my anchor. The rest just sort of . . . happened."

"Hmm." Katara seemed to be thinking about something else again. "Thank you, Aang. I really appreciate you being willing to share this with me."

"Of course, Katara!" he declared. "Anything you want to know."

She smiled at him, and he couldn’t tell if there was sadness in her eyes as she smiled, but her voice sounded cheery enough as she reiterated, “I’m glad you feel comfortable sharing these things.” She gave him a hug, then turned to go into the room for the night. It _had_ been a long day. Aang followed her, looking forward to his own bed and a good night’s sleep.


	4. Toph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph asks Sokka for advice, and they both talk about their regrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's for my friend Victoria; a conversation we had nudged some of the ideas here.

Three days after the Fire Lord's coronation and the day before Sokka and Suki were due to depart for the Southern Water Tribe via Kiyoshi Island, Toph managed to grab Sokka alone.

"Can we talk?" she had asked. "I could use some advice."

"Of course," he agreed. "Anything for the greatest earthbender in the world."

"Greatest earthbender of all time," she corrected, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved it off. They wandered down some of the friendlier alleys in Ba Sing Se in silence for a while, until Toph couldn't hear anyone from the group any more.

"I'm thinking of reaching out to my parents," she said at last. "Even though they sent those crazy guys after me instead of just trying to talk."

"Wait, they sent crazy people after you? Toph, why didn't you mention this before?" Sokka stopped in his tracks to stare at her, forgetting that the gesture would inevitably be lost in translation.

"It didn't seem too important at the time!" she argued. "They captured me, I figured out how to metalbend to get out of their cage, and if I came back saying I'd been captured, you all would've launched a revenge quest or something. So you only needed to know that I could metalbend and the rest didn't matter."

Sokka's demeanor had shifted from indignant to thoughtful while Toph was speaking. "Yeah, okay, revenge quest. Fair point."

"See?" she said emphatically. 

"But I still don't get why you want to talk to your parents now. _Especially_ not after they sent crazy people to capture you. What changed?"

Toph shrugged. "The Fire Lord is defeated -- well, the bad one, anyway -- and it seems we're all going our separate ways. Thought I might try to make amends, especially since we helped save the world." Her blasé tone of voice turned reflective. ". . . and . . . when we were hanging off that ship, and it felt like we were both going to die there . . . I thought about all the things I regret. My relationship with my parents is one of them."

"Mm." Sokka nodded. He'd been repressing the memory of their brush with death, and Toph bringing it up was sending creepy-crawlies down his spine. "I mean, I suppose I can see where you're coming from there. So what did you want my advice for?"

"Honestly, I just said that to get you to come walk with me," admitted Toph. "What I really wanted to ask was if you'd write the letter for me. My parents are in the city, so it should be easy enough to get a response by tomorrow so you can read me the reply too."

"Absolutely!" declared Sokka. "I'd be honoured." He turned to go back the way they came, but Toph grabbed his arm.

"Wait. There's . . . one more thing I regretted."

Sokka turned to face her. "What?"

Toph looked down at her feet, rubbing the right atop the left uneasily. "I . . . I never told you how I feel about you. Or, felt. I know you've got the thing with Suki and I don't want to cause any problems, but . . . I like you. A lot. That's all."

There was silence in response, and Toph was afraid it would be the only response she would get. She supposed it was better than laughter, but braced herself for a silent and awkward walk back to where the others were hanging out.

"Thank you for letting me know," Sokka answered at last. He hadn't moved, and was clearly considering all of his words carefully. "I really appreciate your honesty, and I wish I could reciprocate it. You are a really, really good friend, and I am honoured to have known you and fought by your side. But . . . I don't have those same feelings for you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," mumbled Toph morosely. "I just don't want to make things weird now."

Sokka did laugh this time. "Weird? Toph, we stormed the Fire Nation on the day of Sozin's Comet and we came out alive. Nothing's weird enough to destroy that bond. And I can't really blame you for wanting to get in on this awesome action!" He gestured to himself with both hands, prompting the shadow of a smile and a weak chuckle.

"I guess . . . I was thinking about Aang and Katara, and . . ." Toph trailed off.

Sokka snorted. "Honestly, I'm surprised Katara's going for it. Something must've changed in her, too. I didn't think Aang had it in him to hold onto her."

"Wait, what do you mean?" 

"Katara needs someone who isn't just a strong bender, but a strong person, too. Aang has a lot of spirit, but he's not quite done growing yet. I thought if they did happen, it'd be in like, four years or something. Once he's had a chance to come into his own."

"You mean you think he hasn't yet?" Toph was well and truly confused. "What about all that 'I can't kill Fire Lord Ozai, he's still a human being' stuff?"

"Mmmmm. . . " Sokka squinted, trying to formulate his thoughts. "That kind of sounded a bit like when I was a really little kid and used to parrot the things my dad said were good things to do. They were true at the time, but I didn't understand them the way I do now. That's a principle he learned from the monks, and I understand it a little, but I'm not quite sure he's made it his own yet."

Toph nodded along. "Okay, I see what you're saying. Kind of like how some of growing up is deciding if you're going to brush your teeth every day or not."

"Kind of," agreed Sokka. "But you definitely should do that. I've met too many toothless old people to think it's optional any more."

Toph laughed properly at that. "And they can only eat mush!" she added. 

"Let's head back," suggested Sokka. "We don't want to lose too much more of the day without sending that letter to your parents."

"Thank you for agreeing to write it," said Toph, beginning to walk.

"Of course," replied Sokka. "I had my own revelations on that Fire Nation ship, too. I understand."

"Oh?" asked Toph.

"Yeah," Sokka answered, his voice noticeably less upbeat than usual. "I . . . I'm going to ask Suki to marry me."

"That's great, Sokka," Toph said, projecting more cheeriness than she felt. This was bittersweet news, especially in light of what they had just talked about. 

The bittersweetness was lost on Sokka. "You really think so?" he asked eagerly. "I'm really nervous about it."

"She'd have to be crazy to say no," answered Toph with full conviction. Sokka grinned.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now let's go write that letter!"


	5. Aang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang has an odd dream that may or may not be prescient, then receives an equally odd letter.

The incredibly long day of arriving at Kyoshi Island served to make Aang’s slumber both deep and long. As had been happening frequently, he had inexplicable dreams that felt real but not yet realised -- they couldn't be from his past, since he didn't recognise any of his past lives in them. 

This dream was so vivid Aang wasn't sure he hadn't just appeared in the spirit world while asleep. Experimentally, he tried to airbend, and the sharp blast he hoped to conjure turned into a tornado, sweeping up dust on the ground into an enormous cloud that, somehow, didn't get into his eyes. The tornado dissipated on its own and Aang found himself standing in the Southern Air Temple, hearing the laughter of children.

 _My airbending works, but doesn't behave,_ he noted to himself. _So it's definitely not the spirit world._ He checked the sun -- it was just clearing away the post-dawn mist. He turned back to survey the temple grounds, which seemed a lot brighter than it did at dawn, then checked the sun again: nearly noon. _Definitely a dream._

"Avatar Aang!" a voice came from somewhere below his eye line. He thought he might be taller in this dream, but didn't think much more of it, choosing instead to look at the source of the voice. It was a child -- not much older than six, if that -- dressed in Air Nomad colours. Aang did some hasty mental math, now paying attention to his newfound height and the features of the child in front of him. Her face, still round with plenty of baby fat, had no features that seemed instantly familiar, but she clearly knew him somehow. She got frustrated before he could finish his conclusions, however, and grabbed his hand. "Avataraang," she said again, turning the title into part of his name, "come play air scooter with us! I get to ride you first!" She was hauling on his hand now, so he followed where she led.

"Koyooooooo!" the little girl was greeted by a small but enthusiastic cluster of children all dressed in Air Nomad clothing, ranging in age from about four to about eight. They all looked naggingly familiar to Aang, but obvious answers again did not present themselves.

"I get to ride Avataraang first," declared Koyo, now attempting to climb up Aang's leg. Aang obliged, sweeping her up onto his shoulders and conjuring a scooter with one hand, hoping it would obey him more than his previous attempt at in-dream airbending. This one worked, so Aang warned Koyo: "Hold on tight!" and hopped on, one hand steering the scooter and the other wrapped firmly around Koyo's leg just below the knee. She had wrapped her arms tightly around his forehead, but he didn't want to let go and trust her whole weight to her own small arms and unsteady balance.

After several laps around the Air Temple's courtyard, Aang set himself down, letting the scooter dissipate. He disentangled Koyo from his shoulders and lowered her to the ground carefully, only to be greeted by the small mob again, each child demanding to be next. Before he could decide, however, a strong dusty wind blew in out of nowhere, like the one he had accidentally generated at the beginning of the dream. The temple and the children faded, and Aang drifted further into sleep; no more dreams to be had, but a lingering sadness accompanying him.

\----

The melancholy haunted him as he got ready for the day, carefully shaving away the stubble on his head. He couldn't explain why he recognised Koyo -- or the other children, for that matter. They didn't look like Air Nomads, but they wore the colours. Were any of those children his? If so, was their mother Katara? He fervently hoped so, but didn’t have any solid answers. He knew the dream must be some sort of vision of the future, but the details were fuzzy -- and the future, in his experience, could sometimes be changed. He set the dream aside for now, knowing that puzzling through it would only cause him frustration. This gesture alone made him feel how much he’d grown in the past year -- the Aang of even a few months ago would have fretted over the dream’s meaning for days.

Katara had already left for the day, leaving Aang a note on the small, low table in the common room: _Gone to the beach to practise. Sleep well. Ka~_ She didn’t bother neatly signing her whole name, but had instead squiggled a vague gesture of the other characters. Aang squinted at the signature, trying to figure out how she interpreted those squiggles to remotely resemble either “ta” or “ra,” then set the note down and turned to the door, prepared to meet her at the seashore. A knock came at the door, and he opened it.

“Avatar.” A messenger stood there, scroll in hand. The messenger bowed: “A message for you, from Gaoling.”

“Thank you.” Aang bowed in return and accepted the letter, then the messenger turned and left. Standing in the open doorway, Aang cracked the seal on the letter and read its contents quickly -- then again, more slowly this time. A crease formed in his brow, confusion clouding the rest of his face; he hastily rolled the letter back up and set out to find Katara. She’d know what to do.


	6. Katara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara works through some of her thoughts by the seashore; Aang comes down to ask her advice on his letter.

Katara was standing at the seashore, feeling the push and pull of the ocean so deep in her muscles that it may as well have been tugging gently upon her bones. She felt its resonance at all times these days, and had been since her training in the Northern Water Tribe -- something about the deeper steps of becoming a master. On days like today, when she had a lot on her mind, she liked to go towards that pull and let the ocean guide her motions while she thought. She found herself back in one of the most basic waterbending forms, but as she revisited it she noticed a few tweaks she could make to her balance and adjusted herself accordingly, letting the ocean do most of the rest of the moving for her.

What she had in front of her were pieces of a puzzle -- a big puzzle with a possibly unpleasant solution -- and she was herself a piece, so the physical exercise was her way of giving her mind a bit of distance with which it could approach the issues.

The puzzle was Aang-shaped. In fact, it was Aang himself; Katara was beginning to suspect one of two options. First option: he wasn’t being entirely honest with her, and there were pieces of the story missing. She considered it, but didn’t see any holes or facts big enough to be obvious gaps; it seemed like he had told her one of the most important things right after they’d started travelling, anyway.

A wave licked her bare foot, and she looked down -- the ocean had crawled up to meet her. She wasn’t sure if it was the tides or her practising, so she took a few steps into the water’s edge, letting it come up just past her ankles. The sand shifted beneath her feet with even the smallest push and pull, and the earlier balance adjustment was paying dividends out here. Katara returned to her ruminations, sweeping the water around her feet back and forth with graceful, well-practised passes.

Second option: he wasn’t being entirely honest with _himself._ This option was more likely and less happy, so Katara assembled her mental facts with great caution. In order to consistently control the Avatar state, Aang needed to be let go of all his worldly attachments, including her. While it was peacetime and the Avatar state was no longer necessary as a weapon of destruction, it was a crucial part of being the Avatar, and inconsistent control of it would likely spell doom again in the future. And in order to manipulate someone else’s bending -- something she hoped very badly he wouldn’t have to do again in this life -- he had to have an unbendable spirit. Katara had seen firsthand how Aang’s decisions could become erratic and occasionally unreasonable whenever she was involved.

As if out of nowhere, a wave of sadness washed over Katara, just as a real-life ocean wave splashed up around her knees. If this was the tide coming in, it was coming in quickly. She looked around at herself and at the water around her, then dropped her arms, letting the ocean take its own power back. The waves returned to their natural level, but the sadness remained in Katara’s heart as she stared out at the sea before her.

"Hey, Katara." Aang's voice came from behind her, and she turned to look at him.

"Hey, Aang. You saw my note?" He nodded.

“I just got this letter.” He held it out to her, its cracked seal and crumpled surface looking already worse for the wear. “It’s from Gaoling,” he added helpfully.

Katara took the letter, opening it carefully. She read it once quickly, then again more slowly, this time with her eyebrows furrowed. “Does this say what I think it says?” she asked quietly.

“That there’s an Earth Kingdom child in Gaoling that’s suddenly airbending, but neither of her parents were benders, and they’ve been a family of nonbenders for like three generations? Yeah.” Aang wouldn’t look directly at Katara, choosing instead to studiously observe the little piles of sand he was making with one foot.

“That’s . . . that’s amazing, Aang,” Katara said, looking straight at him. “The Air Nomads aren’t all lost after all.”

“See . . . that’s the thing,” he hedged. “She’s not an Air Nomad. She’s just an air _bender_. She’s still Earth Kingdom.”

“So are you going to train her?” asked Katara. “That’s what her parents want, right? That’s what it says in the letter, at least.”

“I don’t know!” answered Aang. “How would I train her? And how are we sure this isn’t just a weird one-time spirit magic fluke? Would she just come around the world doing Avatar stuff with me? What about you?” He flopped down onto the sand and started summoning individual tiny tornadoes, one after another. Katara lowered herself down next to him, taking care not to get the letter wet.

“I don’t know,” Katara replied. “But I think you shouldn’t just ignore this. Part of your job is to restore balance as the bridge between our world and the spirit world. Maybe this is the spirit world giving you a head start on rebuilding the airbenders. Maybe this is a chance to start over.” She stared out at the ocean, thinking of all the times they’d sat together and talked like this.

“I came to you because I wanted your advice,” Aang admitted, “but I don’t know what I wanted you to say.” He had gathered a small pile of sand into his hand and was airbending a tiny circle, watching the sand follow the miniature winds.

“I don’t know what you wanted me to say, either,” said Katara. “But I think you should really think about training her. You can even wait a few days to make a real decision, if you want.” She rolled the letter up carefully and tucked it into her belt, then leaned back onto her hands.

“That sounds like a good plan,” agreed Aang. He poured the sand on his palm back onto the beach, dusted his hands off, and reached for Katara’s hand where it sat propping her up. She didn’t hold his hand back, but she didn’t pull it away, either. They sat together in amiable silence, letting the ocean do all the talking.


	7. Toph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph has gone to meet her parents, and it didn't go as well as she'd expected; she goes to Iroh to ask for his advice.

Toph grumbled quietly to herself as she walked the streets of Ba Sing Se. She stayed close to the warmest walls, those ones whose faces had been exposed to the sun for the longest time during the day and were now relinquishing that stored heat back into the night air. Her destination wasn't too far away, and she quickened her pace.

The small rope of bells inside the Jasmine Dragon chimed to herald her arrival. A couple heads turned to see who was coming in, but most of the late-evening’s patrons were absorbed in their own activities or conversations. Wiping his hands on his apron, the tea shop’s owner stepped out of his kitchen to greet his customer; a smile lit up his face when he saw her. “Welcome, my young friend!”

"I came here to talk to you," Toph answered, "but somehow along the way I forgot you had other customers than me and your nephew." Iroh threw back his head and laughed loudly, causing smiles and a few unexpected chuckles in some of the remaining patrons.

"That is true, I do have other customers! But I will always have time for my nephew, and I will always have time for you. Come take a seat, and I will sit with you when I can. I still have a little more time before I close the kitchen.” He led her back through the kitchen into a small room with a low table and two pillows on the floor for sitting on.

"I'll be right back," he promised as Toph settled herself at the table. He ducked out of the back room, picked up the teapot he had been preparing when Toph walked in, then stepped back out to the main room to deliver the pot and check on everyone else in the shop. Toph settled into her cushion and smiled, listening carefully through the door to all his conversations. One table was clearly in the painful death throes of an evenly-matched amateur game of pai sho; neither party was ready to admit defeat, and declaring a draw would have ended each party's suffering hours ago. Iroh complimented them on their steadfastness, but warned gently against stubbornness. Another table was a couple clearly in the middle of negotiating a tricky discussion about their relationship, and he said nothing and kept his distance, interrupting only to ask if they wanted a last cup of tea before the kitchen closed. The other tables were all solitary tea-drinkers, seeking solace in the warmth of the shop and its teacups. Toph caught the sounds of an old woman's smile creeping into her voice as she conversed with the tea shop's owner. Her joy seemed infectious, since Iroh's contagious laughter all but shook the windows again.

At last, and after warning his patrons that the kitchen was no longer providing new tea but they could continue to enjoy the tea they had for another thirty minutes, at which point the shop would be closed, Iroh came back into the kitchen and busied himself with a fresh pot.

"I thought you weren't making any fresh tea," called Toph.

"Not for them, I'm not!" Iroh declared. "But a good conversation is always improved with a good tea. So, what brings you to my shop this evening?" He was at the counter, patiently waiting for a small pot of water to boil, but moved to stand in the doorframe of the back room as he spoke.

"I went to go see my parents," said Toph, suddenly reluctant to get into the story. "I had sent them a letter saying I wanted to see them and talk about stuff, and they seemed so excited, and I went to meet them for dinner." Bitterness crept into her voice. "But they didn't want _me_ back, not the real me. They wanted their helpless blind daughter, the one they kept hidden and treated like a doll."

The water in the pot was boiling, so Iroh poured it over the leaves in the teapot on the countertop in front of him, swirling the pot gently as he poured. When it was full, he brought it and two small cups over to the table, settling into his own cushion across from Toph. "So did you stay for dinner?" he asked, both prompting along her story and gauging if she still needed feeding.

"It took me all dinner to figure it out," she sighed. "They just sounded so glad and relieved to know I was alive, and . . . and I didn't think they would be able to avoid seeing how much I've changed. How grown-up I am. How I'm not some helpless little girl!" She pounded the table with a fist, and Iroh reached out to stabilise the teacups. He opened the lid to the pot, sniffed the steam, swirled it again, and re-lidded the teapot. 

"A little bit longer," he said, referring to the tea. Toph nodded silently, torn between tears and rage. Iroh sat in silence with her for a few moments, then rose and said, "I need to check on my customers and start telling them to go home. Count to ten, and then you can pour the tea; it'll be ready then." Toph nodded again, resoundingly miserable.

She counted to ten, not actively eavesdropping on Iroh's conversations outside while she did so, then poured herself a cup of tea. It was warm and soothing, with a tart, sharp floral taste that settled into a rounder, earthier flavour. Outside in the main shop, it sounded like the pai sho players had taken the hint and reluctantly declared a draw; the couple was unsure if they were going to remain a couple; and the smiling old woman planted a kiss on Iroh's cheek as she gathered herself up to leave. After successfully convincing everyone to leave the shop even before it was officially closed, Iroh locked the door from the inside and returned to the back room beyond the kitchen, settling back into the cushion across from Toph and pouring himself some tea from the pot.

"It's very good," she offered. "Just as good as the first time I tried your tea."

"Tea is the heart of hospitality," answered Iroh. "So much can be done with so little; to make tea is always an act of love."

"Wish my parents could hear you say that," muttered Toph darkly into her teacup. Iroh blinked at her, concerned.

"Do they not serve you tea?" he asked.

"They serve it, but they don't make it," she answered. "The servants do. And nobody lets me have anything that hasn't been cooled down so it won't burn me, but nobody's very good at telling what's not too hot for poor helpless Toph, so I've been eating lukewarm meals my whole life. You know, it wasn't until I ate Katara's camp cooking that I realised most food was supposed to be eaten hot, and it made you nice and warm inside? And half the time it was weird Water Tribe food and I still liked it better than the fanciest foods my parents ever served me."

Iroh chuckled. "Stewed sea prunes are an acquired taste, and I am still not sure I've acquired it," he said. "But you did not come here just to complain about lukewarm food, no matter how worthy a complaint that is. What is it that brought you here?"

"UGH!" Toph punched the ground next to her, making the packed-earth floor of the room ripple underneath its carpet. Iroh grabbed for his teacup and pot again, saving both from destruction. Toph still had her cup in one hand, half a swallow of now-tepid tea left in the bottom. "My parents who think I'm helpless and fragile and who spent my whole life until three months ago pretending I didn't exist now want to marry me off to some . . . _prince!_ " She spat the last word like it was something slimy that she'd just stepped in.

“Arranged marriages are not always bad,” offered Iroh carefully. “My wife and I were an arranged marriage, and I loved her very much.”

"I don't want to be married off!" yelled Toph. "I'm not just some resource they can move around and use to their political advantage! _And_ I overheard my mother's attendants talking and apparently this prince is really ugly and rude, and assumes everyone turns down his offers because of his face. So my parents think that because I'm blind, I won't care. But he sounds like a jerk; one of the attendants said he beats his servants with no real reasons. I don’t want to even meet him." She lapsed into silence to stew for a little while, tossing back the dregs of her cup and pouring more from the pot.

"Sometimes, our duties ask us to do something that is unpleasant," began Iroh. Toph glowered in his general direction and, despite himself, he chuckled. “But I do not think your duties ask you to marry this man; you may, however, have to make a very hard decision about your parents.”

“What decision?” asked Toph. “I already went to go see them even after they sent some crazy guys to capture me and bring me back.” Iroh almost choked on his tea at hearing this, and coughed fitfully for a few seconds. Toph stopped talking and sat awkwardly, frozen.

“Carry on,” he gasped, clearing his throat.

“I don’t know what other decisions I could make,” she continued. “What other duties do I have except to my parents, now that the world is saved?”

“You still have a duty to the Avatar,” pointed out Iroh, having regained control of his breathing. “You are his friend, and he will need all the help he can get as the world rebuilds.”

“Yeah, but Aang has Katara,” Toph countered. “He doesn’t need me.” She slumped onto her elbows on the low table, swirling the tea in her cup with one hand and leaning her chin on the other.

“One person is not the answer to all life’s questions,” said Iroh cryptically. "Just because he has Katara does not mean he will not also need you. If you could find yourself to be useful to him in this time of growth, would you go there?" 

"Yeah," answered Toph, confused, "but why are you suggesting that he'll need _my_ help?"

"I had a dream a few nights ago," said Iroh. "The Avatar was teaching young children to airbend -- many of them looked like Earth Kingdom children, though a couple looked like they came from the Water Tribes or the Fire Nation. And he did not have Katara with him; he was alone, and he was struggling. You could help him."

"I can't airbend," countered Toph. “Earthbending is airbending’s absolute opposite; I’d be useless to him with that.”

“You know the Earth Kingdom very well in ways Aang still does not,” answered Iroh, “and in my experience, learning from your own element’s opposite is very enlightening.”

“I’ll think about it,” Toph conceded. She slowly drained the rest of her cup and went to pour some more, but Iroh stopped her hand. He took her cup from her and poured it himself, then passed her own cup back to her. “I can pour my own tea,” she argued.

“I know,” answered Iroh. “But I wanted to pour it for you, since you are still in my shop. Allow an old man his small joys?” This last was said with a bit of a wry smile, and Toph chuckled.

“Okay, okay. Actually--” something had just occurred to her. “I didn’t think about where I was going to sleep tonight if I didn’t stay with my parents and go back to Gaoling. Can I please stay here for a little bit?”

“Absolutely,” he answered. “The apartments above the shop are for a whole family, but since it’s just me, I would be very glad of the company. You and your friends are always welcome here.”

Toph smiled at this. “Thank you,” she replied. “It’s nice to be loved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me hell to write and it still doesn't feel quite right, but I'm at my self-imposed release date and if I don't publish today, the fic will inevitably be left to languish for weeks . . . so, I'm sorry if it's all a bit off! I see it, it's bugging me too, and I'm out of time to fix it.


	8. Katara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka and Suki have some news for Katara and Aang!

The sun had begun to set on Kyoshi Island when a ship pulled into the tiny port. Two people disembarked, setting off at a brisk pace into the heart of the island. Spotting a familiar figure in the crowd, one broke ahead of the other in a sprint, shouting.

“KATARAAAAAA!”

Katara spun around to find her brother running like he was being chased. She emptied the contents of the nearest pot of water, bending it into a wave held at the ready. There was a person chasing Sokka, and she shot a few icicles out of her wave to deter the pursuer. The pursuer dodged the icicles with ease and continued gaining at a pace of what looked like, on closer inspection, a steady jog. Katara recognised her at last. "Suki! I'm so sorry!!" She dropped the wave and ran to hug Suki.

"What, no hug for me?" demanded Sokka.

"I didn't mistakenly shoot icicles at you," retorted Katara. Suki laughed.

"No hard feelings," she told Katara, "but maybe you should get your eyes checked."

Katara prickled a little, pointing out: "The sun was in my eyes. I would've shot icicles at Sokka if he hadn't been yelling at me."

"You've shot icicles at me before when you've known it was me," pouted Sokka.

"And you deserved it!" declared Katara. Suki laughed again and Katara turned back to her. "But you didn't, and I really am sorry. Can I make it up to you?"

Suki grinned. "Let Sokka talk."

Katara raised her eyebrows at her brother. He looked like he was going to explode.

“IaskedSukitomarrymeandshesaidyes!!” His words came tumbling out on top of each other, and Katara was confused for a brief moment. 

“What? Oh!” Her brain caught up with what her ears had heard, and her face lit up to match Sokka’s enthusiasm. “That’s so exciting! Congratulations!” She pulled them both into a tight hug, then held them at arm's length and started babbling almost as quickly as Sokka. "There's so much to plan! So much to do! Oh, a wedding in the Southern Water Tribe; Dad's gonna be so proud. Does he know yet?"

Sokka shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I wanted to tell him in person, so we're cutting our visit here shorter than we’d planned so we can go tell him soon. But we do have to tell the other Kyoshi Warriors today, though."

Katara looked at Suki. "You guys haven't told them yet?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

It was Suki's turn to shake her head. "Nope. We wanted to tell you and Aang first. Speaking of, where is he? He should hear this, too!"

Aang came racing down the nearest rooftop just as Suki asked where he was, arriving behind Katara just in time to hear Suki declare that there was something someone needed to hear.

"What? Who should hear what, too? Sokka, are you okay? You sounded like you were under attack!"

Suki laughed. “He’s fine, Aang. Just excited to share the good news.”

“Good news? What good news?” Aang fired off more questions, still riding the adrenaline-high that came from thinking his friend was in danger.

Before Sokka could answer, Katara spun around to face Aang, ecstatic: “Sokka and Suki are getting married!” 

“What? That’s so great!” Aang grabbed Katara and spun her around. "We can get married at the same time!" 

"Wait, you guys got engaged already? And didn't tell us?" Sokka asked Katara, equal parts incredulous and offended.

"Nnnoooo," answered Katara carefully, looking only at Aang. "We actually haven't really talked about it yet." She tried very hard to keep her turmoil of emotions off her face; behind her, Sokka and Suki exchanged a brief but very expressive glance.

"I'm uh, we're going to go find the girls now," stammered Suki, gesturing in a vague direction elsewhere. Sokka nodded overenthusiastically in agreement, and they both walked as quickly as was polite out of earshot.

Alone together now, Katara simply continued staring at Aang, waiting for him to say something. He cracked under the pressure of her gaze in seconds.

"I just thought that's what's going to happen!" Aang protested.

"We haven't talked about it at all, Aang," answered Katara calmly. "And it's barely been a month, you know." She quietly took a deep breath to calm her nerves; yelling wouldn't resolve this situation well.

"I mean, we did do all that save-the-world stuff together," said Aang lamely. "I thought that counted."

"We did do that," Katara ceded. "But I was still on the fence about my feelings for you even as recently about Ember Island. This sort of thing takes time to grow."

"Not for Sokka and Suki, it doesn't!" he protested. "They're getting married! Why can't we get married, too?"

"Sokka and Suki were together longer than we were, and they've been through a lot together," she started.

"And so have we!" Aang wasn't in good control of his emotions, and Katara's control of her own temper was beginning to slip.

"Not in the same way, we haven't!" she argued. "This--" here she gestured with her hands between the two of them "--is new. This is something we're still working out. And I don't appreciate you springing marriage on me! Especially not right after Sokka and Suki broke the news! It was _their_ moment, not ours, and certainly not just yours!" Tears were beginning to gather in her eyes and she blinked fiercely to squelch them, turning her face away from Aang.

"So have you even thought about marrying me, Katara?" asked Aang, still angry.

"I have!" she answered, desperate. "But . . . I'm just not sure."

"Well, what's the point, then, if we're not going to get married?" he demanded.

"To figure out if that's the right decision," she replied. This was more solid emotional ground. "And we just frankly haven't had enough time to figure it out yet; I know I haven't. Aang, please don't ask me to marry you. Not now." Her voice was choked. "Not yet."

Aang sighed. Katara was speaking some sense, even if he didn't like it. "Okay," he ceded. "I take it back. And we'll have a real conversation about it before I do."

Katara turned to smile at him through the unfallen tears she hadn't yet managed to vanquish. "Thanks. Now let's go see if we can't enjoy the aftermath of Sokka and Suki's good news."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cards on the table: I don't have the next two chapters written yet, and Christmas is looming pretty quickly. I'm going to try to keep the every-Saturday update schedule, but with work deadlines and the earlier-than-ever-before USPS shipping deadline, I'm probably going to miss at least a week. You have my apologies in advance.


	9. Zuko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finally talks to Mai. It is not a very fun conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update schedule? what update schedule? this and the following chapter have been very hard for me to write, so update schedules are no longer existent.

The Fire Lord was pacing. It was an irregular pace, but a pace nonetheless: walk halfway across the room, stop, rub his forehead, finish walking across the room and turn around, then pace back to where he started, where he'd put his face in his hands, take a deep breath, and begin the route again. He could occasionally be heard muttering, and at one point shouted, "No thanks to _you,_ badgerfrog!" in the general direction of a tapestry. 

A guard came to the open door and knocked on the frame. “The lady Mai is here to see you,” he informed Zuko. Taking a deep breath, Zuko straightened his shoulders and walked out into the inner receiving room of the Fire Lord’s apartments. Mai was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed.

“You don’t have to make them announce me every time,” she grumbled to him. Zuko shrugged in response. They’d already had this discussion several times and he didn’t feel like revisiting it. “So, what are we doing today?” came the follow-up question. “It’s not every day the Fire Lord clears his schedule for you, even when he is your boyfriend.” There was a little bitterness in the statement, and it wasn’t lost on its recipient.

“We . . . uh . . .” Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. This was not an auspicious start. He closed his eyes, took another deep breath to stabilise himself, and managed to croak, “We need to talk.” He opened his eyes slowly to look at Mai.

Mai straightened up, her crossed arms tightening against her. She took a step into the room, closer to him, and narrowed her eyes: “Talk about what?” Everything about her radiated suspicion. Zuko desperately wanted to assuage that suspicion, to tell her it was all going to be okay, but he knew that would be a lie, and so he didn’t, plowing on ahead into the main body of his rehearsed speech.

“Mai, I . . . I like you a lot,” he started. The words seemed to freeze before they reached his mouth, so he swallowed carefully and carried on in the face of her icy stare. “I think you’re really . . . uh . . . great.” _Stupid, stupid,_ he chided himself. The stare continued. “But I think . . .” he was slow to choose his next words; too slow.

“What?” she finally snapped. “What do you think? Are you trying to break up with me? I told you never to do that again!”

This knocked Zuko back onto the defensive. “You can’t give me orders!” he retorted. "And yes, since you asked, I _am_ trying to break up with you!"

"It wasn't an order!" Mai was torn between anger and exasperation. She sounded mostly angry.

"Then what was it, then? A proposal of marriage? Because that's the implication!" Zuko was all-out yelling by now.

"I don't know! Maybe!"

This stopped Zuko in his tracks and he remembered the most recent conversation he had with his uncle. "Shouting will only make it worse," Iroh had said. "Reach deep into yourself and find your inner calm. Only from there will you be firm and compassionate."

Zuko lowered his voice and his eyes and said, in a way that could even pass for gentle, "Mai."

"What?" She was clearly still upset.

"I can't marry you." It was quiet, almost pleading. The response, however, was not.

" _What?_ " Knives were visible in her hand as soon as the first letter escaped her lips.

Zuko took in yet another steadying breath, calming the inner fire that still sometimes enjoyed feeding on rage. "Mai," he said again. A knife whizzed past his cheek.

"I'm Fire Lord now," Zuko continued in a voice that wouldn't have been out of place trying to soothe an angry platypus-bear. "And the Fire Lord has a lot of responsibilities to his people. Especially after what the last two Fire Lords did to the world."

"So what about what they did?" No knives accompanied this accusation; Zuko was grateful, but she wasn't done yet. "So what if being the Fire Lord means you have important Fire Lord things to do and don't have time for your girlfriend?" The bitterness was really showing now. "It's not like you'd spend any more time with me if we _did_ get married!"

That stung. It was also enough to break the tenuous calm that Zuko had regained. "Mai, I don't get to pick my wife!" he shouted. "I didn't even think I would be thinking about having a wife! I'm sixteen! But I _am_ the Fire Lord and my marriage is a matter of world peace!"

"So you can't marry me because _I_ won't bring peace?" Mai responded. A knife flew from her hand past Zuko's other ear, smashing into a ceramic vase behind him.

“Are you even _glad_ the war’s over, Mai?” Zuko’s question was not wholly rhetorical.

“What are you trying to say?” she shot back.

“I’m trying to say that I don’t think you understand the difficulty of being Fire Lord in . . . all this!” he waved his hand vaguely, attempting to encompass the entire state of the world.

Mai's eyes narrowed, and her voice got dangerously quiet. "What don't I understand, Zuko? Having to decide between duty and love? Or did you forget that time I helped you _escape a Fire Nation prison_?"

"I didn't ask for your help!" Zuko yelled, flustered now. 

Another knife whipped past his shoulder this time, taking a piece of his robe with it as it buried itself in a wooden pilaster. "But you needed it!" The twin to the previous blade smashed a window.

"I . . ." Zuko turned away from her, looking out the shattered window. "I do love you," he admitted. "But I know I can't marry you, and I don't want to lie to you or pretend that I can until it's too late. Because . . . I do care about you. And I don't want to hurt you even more."

"It's too late for that," came the angry riposte. Mai had also turned her back on Zuko. "I just have to assume your idiot uncle put you up to this."

"He had nothing to do with my decision!" Zuko was yelling again. "He even tried to talk me out of it, but I told him that it was something I had to do!"

"So there's someone else." It was a statement, accusatory in its simplicity: and infuriating in its presumption.

"No, there's not! Not unless you consider the whole Fire Nation to be the other woman!"

Mai was again leaning against the doorframe; she had retreated to it during the course of the argument. Her voice resumed its usual "bored-with-the-world" quality, as she knew it was perfect for pushing Zuko's buttons when he was worked up like this. "So there's not another woman except the Fire Nation, but you have to marry someone else _for_ the Fire Nation. Which one is it?"

"It's both, can't you see?" asked Zuko pleadingly. "There is nobody else right now. There probably will be someone else in the future, and she will have to help me lead the Fire Nation in its new era of peace and love, but I don't even think I'm going to get to pick who she is!" He looked at the floor beneath his feet. "The Council of Nations might choose a bride for me. I don't know. But I know I don't get the luxury of just picking the first girl who likes me back."

The words were out of his mouth before he had processed how bad they were -- nothing about this conversation was going the way he had rehearsed it, and his deeper feelings and insecurities were creeping out in the form of offensively blunt comments.

"Well, if that's how you really feel." Sharpness had crept back into Mai's voice, and she turned on her heel, with a parting shot: "I hope she makes you miserable." She swept out of the room, slamming the door behind her so hard that the wood cracked along the hinges. Zuko walked to the nearest wall and leaned his forehead against the cool stone, covering his face with his hands.

“That went well,” he muttered to himself bitterly.


End file.
